I found this recipe (or a variation) on another site, and its ingenuity and versatility are what struck me most. It is completely versatile as long as you have rice, peanuts or peanut butter, tomatoes (canned, fresh, salsa...whatever), and some kinds of vegetables. I highly recommend using the onion/garlic, but the proportions aren't crucial. Other than that, what you add is up to you: bell peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, potato, squash, carrots, celery, brocolli would all work. If you don't have vegetable or chicken broth, water and some (optional) salt does just fine. Chili powder is not necessary, and as others have said, various spcie combinations all work. If you're not comfortable making changes, the recipe as written is good, but might get boring ;-) Tip: base the cook time after adding the rice on the simmer time provided on the rice package directions.

Reviewed On: Oct. 27, 2009

The ONLY reason I gave this 4 stars is because the original calls for canned peaches. I use fresh fruit whenever possible. I was looking for a way to use up some JUMBO (1 lb each) peaches we got from the local orchard, and this has the most reviews with such a high rating. I now know why! I used about 3 lb of fresh peaches, dribbled with a little bit of maple syrup (2 Tbsp?), and followed the rest as written (but with grating butter as was suggested by many). This is DEFINITELY a keeper with the mod to fresh peaches. (fresh fruit and boxed cake mix... I know... but peaches shouldn't come in a can :-p)

Reviewed On: Aug. 24, 2009